A 20-year-old Middle Georgia man has pleaded guilty to federal charges after he was accused of 3D printing guns and silencers in his bedroom, officials said.
Jaden Michael-William Pope, of Lizella, faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.
On Monday, Pope pleaded guilty to one count of manufacturing an unregistered firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. His sentencing has been scheduled for May 13.
The investigation began with local authorities in 2023, according to federal officials. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office arrested Pope that year after investigators accused him of stealing guns from cars at night, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Officials said Pope admitted to the crime.
During that investigation, detectives with the sheriff’s office found photos of “personally manufactured” guns and silencers on Pope’s cellphone, according to the news release. Law enforcement officers also received a tip that Pope was 3D printing guns and silencers in his bedroom. The source also said they witnessed the silencers in action and they effectively dampened the sound of gunshots.
Local law enforcement notified the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about their findings, and the ATF continued the investigation. ATF agents found photos Pope posted to social media of personally manufactured and modified guns, including a Glock handgun with a “switch” device that enables fully automatic gunfire.
On social media, Pope described himself as a “machinist” and a student at a technical college, federal officials said. ATF agents executed a search warrant at his home in December 2023 and found four 3D printers, three computers, two machine guns, nine silencers and a short-barreled rifle.
ATF agents found additional evidence that Pope had been building guns, federal officials said. Investigators found diagrams and instructions, Pope’s personal notes, scrap parts and failed 3D prints. Agents also analyzed the computers and 3D printers and discovered codes used to print the guns, silencers and the short-barreled rifle found at Pope’s home, officials said.
While searching the computers, agents found methamphetamine hidden inside a USB device, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Lizella, where Pope lives, is a town in Crawford and Bibb counties, just north of West Point and about 11 miles west of Macon.
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